Improvement in rattan machinery



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UNITED STATES PATENT EEICE.

THOMAS J. MAYALL, OF BOSTON, ASSIGNOR TO GYRUS VAKEFIELD, OF

SOUTH READING,

MASS ACH USETTS.

EMPROVEMENT IN RATTAN vMACHINERY.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 36,056, dated July 29,1862.

b @ZZ whom it may concern: A i

Be it known that I, THOMAS J. MAYALL, of Boston, in the county ofSuffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and use` fnlMachine for Cutting the Joint Rings of Rattan; and l do hereby declarethat the fol'- lowing is a full, clear,` and exact description of thesame, reference being had to the 'annexed drawings, making a part ofthis specification, and to the letters tif-reference marked thereon. Theobject of my invention is to ont away the rings that project at thejoints of rattan without otherwise impairing the surface; and itconsists in the combination, with a series of feed-rollers constructedAfirmly to grasp the rattan without, however, injuring itsglazedsurface, and to pass it through the machine, of a series of rotatingcutters that are raised from .the surface until the presence of a ringor other excrescence causes them to converge and reduce the stick to auniform cylinder.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproceed to describeits construction and operation.

Figure l of the drawings is a side elevation of my improved machine.Fig. 2' is a sectional elevation. Fig. 3 is a plan, and Fig. 4 is atransverse section, of the same. Fig. 5 is a detached portion of themachine, that will be hereinafter more particularly described.

The pairs of rollers a, b, c-,fand d have grooves in the middle of theirlength for the reception of the rattan, which are faced or lined withindia-rubber, that it may be strongly and securely grasped withoutinjury to its silicious surface. Theserollers are placed in the frame ofthe machine so that the stick of rattan will is so limited in extent asnot to interfere "with4 the-.proper action oi' the gear-wheels, bywhich. the rollers are rotated on motion' being imparted to them fromthe main drivingshaft g.

H is a revolving sleeve through which the rattan passes. Itis rotated bythe spur-wheel i, which is driven by bevel-gearingfrom the shaft g. Itcarries a head (represented rie-- tached in Fig. 5) containing a seriesof cutters or knives, k, the edges of which are sharpened tangentiallyto the surface of the rattan. Each of these knives is hung on a centralpin, and has its cutting-edge pressed against the rattan by a helicalspring placed under its opposite end and within the head. The depth towhich the knives are permitted to cut in relation to the general surfaceof the stick is adjusted by set-screws l. On the ends of the knivesopposite the cutting-edges are small rollers m, which are clasped by acord or belt, n, the ends of which are fastened to the vertical arms o oof a pair of bell-cranks placed on each side of the-machine. The otherarms, p p. of these bell-cranks cross one another over the top of .themachine, and are secured by a pin` g, Working in a slot in one of thearms, thatthus holds the arms together and permits their beingdepressed. The fulcrum or center of motion of each bellcrank isat r. Theeiicct of the depression of the arms p is to separate the arms o, and tocanse the rollers m to converge together and the cutting ends of theknives k to diverge from the rattan.

S is a slide beam that has a longitudinal motion in the bearings t t,and carries a cam, s, on its lower side, that depresses the arms of thecranks. The beam is caused to slide to the right by the knot ortally-gage u coming in rcontact with a knot or ring on the rattan thatis being passed through the machine. When it has thus been carried tothe right into the position indicated in red lines, the stationary cam oraises the gage u by compressing its sp ring and occasions the cessationof the movement of the slide-beam. The knot-gage may be placed on theend of the machine at a distance from the knives equal to the spacebetween the rings of the rattan, as shown in the drawings, so that theknives are depressed to cut one ring by the contact of the gage with thering immediately following; or it may be placed within the frame'andjustin vfront of the knives, so that each knot passing the gage will placethe knives in position for cutting it away. The slidebeam S is restoredto its original position by the top cross-piece of the frame w, whichvibrates on the center x and is operated by the pin y, projecting fromthe roller c.

In operating this machine, the rattan is entered' between therubber-lined grooves of the rollers a, b, c, and d, which are adjustedto suit its size by the set-screws f, the knives are set by the screwsZ, so that they will only cut into the rattan to the required extent,and the cam s is placed upon the arms of the bell.

cranks to hold the knives from the'surface. The machine is then put inmotion from the driving-shaft g. The rollers revolve with the rattantightly grasped and carried through the sleeve H, which also carries theknives in rapid revolution around the rattan. Vhen a ring or knotstrikes the gage a, the slide-beam will be moved to th e positionindicated in red, the bell-cranks will be relieved from the cam s, thecord will be relaxed around the rollers m, and the knives will be causedto converge by their springs and will cut away theknot presented fortheir action to the depth that has been regulated by theiradjusting-screws. When the ring has passed through the knives, the pin yon the roller c strikes the lower portion of the frame w and shifts theslide-beam back to its original position in which the cam bears upon thebell cranks and opens the knives. The return of the slide-beam alsoreleases thegage u from the cam fv, and the eX- pansion ofthe spring ofthe gage causes it to again rest upon the rattanin readiness for anotherknot.

In the machines that have been invented hitherto rollers have been usedfor feeding the cane or rattan; but where sufficient pressure has beenemployed to hold the cane firmly the surface has been bruised orcrushed; and they have been further objectionable for the reason thatinequalities of surface would cause the rattan to slip or jerk. Theseobjections have been remedied in my machine by lining the grooves of therollers with india-rubber, which will hold the rattan firmly withoutrisk of injury,and will cause it to be fed uniformly; but their actionwas essentially different from that of the side cutters hereinbeforedescribed, asv

instead of removing the excrescenees or knots by a clean cut, orpreferably a draw-cut, they were scraped off by a series of knives orcutters, the scrapingedges of which formed a circle more or.less inconformity with the sectional circumference of the rattan, and havepressed against it throughout its whole length, whereby its siliciousand glazed surface,which it is so important to preserve intact, wasliable to be scraped and otherwise injured. The shape and operation ofthe knives, on the other hand, were such as to render them very liableto be broken, or at least of becoming speedily dull, requiring constantsharpening and adjustment. It will be observed that my knives are onlybrought into operation when they are required to cut away a proj ectingknot or ring, and that their circular motion, in combination with therectilinear movement of the rattan, insures a clean smooth cut by thedrawing diagonal resulting from these components. Both the rollers andthe knives are susceptible of easy adjustment to meet the requirementsof the different sizes of canes or rattans that it may be desired tooperate upon. In conclusion, I would observe that I do not wish to beunderstood as confining myself to the precise construction andarrangement of parts as hereinbefore described. It must appear obviousthat this my invention is susceptible of many modifications withoutdeparting from the principle of my invention.

Now, having fully described my improvements, I shall state my claims, asfollows:

1. The method of cutting away the knots of rattan by the employment,incombination with two or more pairs of rollers to impart to the stick ofrattan a rectilinear movement, as de`

